ISU and UND Fightin' Sioux

[john_clayton]

Now that most of this board is ready to move on, let's turn the attention to the 9/18 home opener v. UND. I know its a little early, but we might as well start talking it up and hope for a decent crowd. Any word on ticket sales, promotions. I've only seen those pocket schedules with all of the Fall sports but can't remember what promotion(s) is/are for what games.

Thoughts, comments, complaints (i.e. 5-WR sets)... I'll add my thoughts later. Just thought I'd get this thread going...

From Ty Willingham's yard sale, this is John Clayton, BengalDen.com
My goodness, my dawgs are awful :x ...maybe Jim Mora will reconsider coaching the Seaducks next year and rebuild the program

 

[SLCBengal]

The Grand Forks Herald has an article about the University of North Dakota's Potato Bowl tradition:

In September 1966, the UND Fighting Sioux football team stomped Idaho State 41-0 in the first annual Potato Bowl football game, a tradition that started as a way to prove North Dakota’s potatoes are better than Idaho’s.

“It started as a discussion over who grows the best potatoes: North Dakota or Idaho,” Olson said of the Potato Bowl. “And I don’t believe that’s ever been settled.”

University of North Dakota: Potato Bowl (free registration)

It's become a week long tradition for North Dakota, and it sounds like a fun way to market this game. When are Shelley Spud Days?

 

[skippy57.0]

ISU marketing department should get on this one. Looks like a great opportunity for a Potato Growers of Idaho night at the dome. They could have a blind taste test at halftime -- Idaho bakers vs. whatever it is the folks in N.D. grow. They could invite C. Ray Gregory, the former Southern Utah coach who swore off spuds, back to give a testimonial for Idaho potatoes. So many possibilities, so little time...

C. Ray: where are you now:

http://bccathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/gregory_cray00.html

 

[spudbowl]

it's probably too late, but you could market this as the Spud Bowl and get corporate sponsorship from the Idaho Potato Growers and the North Dakota equivalent. Have some fun, give away some tickets, have prizes, get the media involved, etc. The original Spud Bowl was a game between ISC and Maine (I believe) that never took place and is hence, why Davis Field is called the Spud Bowl by oldtimers.

 

[Bengal Roar]

Is North Dakota 1-AA? How long have they been if they are?

 

[skippy57.0]

NoDak is in the process of moving up. They joined the Great West Conference this year, but are still playing a lot of the same D-II teams they used to be in a conference with.

 

[john_clayton]

Zamberlin and his crew should be familiar with UND since Z's old school, CWU and UND, competed in the same D-II conference.

 

[Bengal Roar]

I did a little research on them. They aint no slouch either. It looks like they have a rich heritage in winning. They know how to win. Here is their last few seasons....... 07-08 season 10-2
06-07 season 11-2
05-06 season 10-3
04-05 season 11-3
03-04 season 12-2
They are in their first year in the FCS i believe.

 

[outtastate]

POWER RUNNING GAME, SOLID RB COMING BACK THIS YEAR. GOOD FOOTBALL PROGAM YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT, WELL COACHED, SHOULD BE A GOOD GAME.

 

[skippy57.0]

They do have a new coach this year, after Dale Lennon left for Southern Illinois.

 

[Bengal Roar]

Are you talking about Tony Dungy's nephew? I think he is a running back on that team. Amazing who is where in the college ranks and their affiliation to the NFL and NBA ie. JA brother Scott (was) here. Montana has Fisher's son from the Titans and Stockton's son from the Jazz the list goes on.

 

[bengalcub]

If anyone has this game chalked up as a gimmie---don't.

This is a great selection for an out of conference opponent for the Bengals.

 

[spazdog1]

These are the type of games that will make the Bengals better. Period. The previous two games were tough, not saying that this game is not. A tough out of conference schedule might not look good in the win - loss column, but you can't get the experience by playing a patty cake team. Hopefully, the out of conference schedule will pay dividends come conference time.

Two lifetimes ago, I knew a family from Fargo. They were all down to earth folks. The boys played football and hockey at N. Dakota in the 90's. They were tough kids and the family was very proud of their team. I believe they have won several DII football championships over the past 10 - 12 years or so. If they play like this family used to talk, ISU will have their hands full.

Anyway... Get Holt rocking!

Go Bengals!

 

[bincitysioux]

Actually, we've just won one DII championship, that was in 2001, and lost in the National Championship game in 2003. But we had been perennially a top 10 program in DII for most of the last 15 years. We beat Northern Iowa in 2006, and Southern Utah in 2007.

It is our first season in the FCS, joined the Great West.

We have a new head coach this season, but he had been O.C. for the previous 9 seasons. We lost to graduation hands down the best WR in DII last year, and lost a very explosive RB to academic issues. Those were the big question marks heading into the season. Our passing game has been great, but we still haven't established a real effective run game.

Our two best players are our senior QB (Freund), and senior WR (Trenbeath) who are leading the Great West in passing and receiving respectively.

Thing is, it is really hard to discern how good the Sioux might be this year in FCS, we've played two DII teams, and are playing a DIII school this week. We played really well in the first game, and so-so in the second. While we should never look past any opponent, many North Dakota fans have had the Idaho St. game circled on the calander for quite a while, because it will be our first test against a DI program this season.

 

[spazdog1]

Bincitysioux...
Please forgive my ignorance. Please tell me the difference in scholarships, etc. between DII and D1AA. I truly don't know. What was your biggest obstacle in the transition? Were the fans in favor of the move?

Just curious.

 

[bincitysioux]

Bincitysioux...
Please forgive my ignorance. Please tell me the difference in scholarships, etc. between DII and D1AA. I truly don't know. What was your biggest obstacle in the transition? Were the fans in favor of the move?

Just curious.

We were at the DII limit with 36. This year we have 57 schollies, the FCS limit is 63. I would say our biggest obstacle has been our own administration.

When Northern Colorado, NDSU, and SDSU decided to move up, our President and Athletic Director were very opposed to it. In fairness to them, we had several large building projects and changes going on, so it is possible they wanted to make sure those changes went smoothly before commiting to DI. From 2001-04 we moved into a new FB stadium, Hockey arena, and Basketball arena, and added a women's sport. We now have a new president in place who seems to be very much behind athletics, and a new A.D. who has 3 decades of experience in DI administration.

I would say that by and large the fans are very excited about the move. We set an attendence record for opening day this season, so that is encouraging. In all honesty though, football is a second-class citizen at North Dakota. Hockey is so big in this state that it overshadows pretty much everything else. It seems that there are two factions of fans: those that closely follow all the sports (at least the big ones like FB, Hockey, and Basketball), and those that only follow hockey. The second group might be actually larger than the first. The hope is that playing more recognizeable schools in the other sports will cause the hockey crowd to migrate over and pay attention to the other sports.

 

[spazdog1]

Wow. I had now idea how big of a gap D1AA and DII are as far as scholarships go. What kind of crowds to you get in home football game? In a hockey game?

 

[bincitysioux]

Wow. I had now idea how big of a gap D1AA and DII are as far as scholarships go. What kind of crowds to you get in home football game? In a hockey game?

Through two games this year, we're averaging ~10,200 for football. Since moving into our new FB stadium in 2001, we've averaged about 9,500. Capacity is 12,283.

The Hockey arena seats 11,404 and last season average attendance was 11,709. All home games are televised on cable in ND, MN, and SD. All in all, we can watch about 80% of the games on TV, home or away. FYI: Just in case you didn't know, the hockey program has been DI since its inception, and has won 7 national championships. We play in the same conference as Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Denver, and reguarily play against (and beat ) other large DI schools like Michigan, Michigan St., Boston College, etc. That's why it's so popular up here.

 

[skippy57.0]

Thanks for the great insight to your program. I have to ask this: you said that in the last several years, your program has built a new football arena, basketball arena and hockey arena, and added a women's sport. Coming from a school that is DYING for new facilities, I have to ask: How were these facilities funded? Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated by Idaho State fans, who haven't seen a new athletic department facility since the Sports Medicine Facility in the 1980s. Thanks!

 

[boisebengal]

My physical therapist here in Boise, is a graduate of UND -- and he also went to ISU. And he said that there's a casino owner down in Las Vegas who's extremely wealthy, who's from N. Dakota originally -- who donated about $100 million for the hockey arena alone. Now I don't know how much of this is true, but this is what he told me. And he said that the hockey arena is very, very nice, with leather seats and all -- and it's only a few years old, and is by far the nicest hockey venue of any college. As far as a new basketball arena and football arena, I'm not sure, but perhaps this guy funded these venues as well.